The “why the heck is Nancy Pelosi voting for the war” rally was great: thanks to United for Peace and Justice (Bay Area chapter) for making it possible. It was gratifying to see some of my readers there: they came up and introduced themselves, and I’m glad I could be of some assistance in building the rally. The star of the occasion, by the way, was Stephen Zunes, who gave a bang-up speech, detailing Pelosi’s two-faced campaign to present herself to her district as opposed to the war, and yet when it comes to her votes and general behavior on the floor of congress, it’s Nancy the War Goddess all the way. He cited her speeches, and pointed out how she has consistently echoed the Bush administration’s line on Iraq, even down to accusing pre-war Baghdad of harboring Al Qaeda — a charge usually reserved for the more perfervid neocons, but almost never from any Democrats. She is, Zunes, trenchantly pointed out, to the right of people like James Baker and other veterans of the Bush I administration who opposed this war and are now calling for withdrawal.

There were quite a few people there, for a mid-day Monday demonstration — at least 150 — and the media was out in force. Madame Minority Leader, who has always gotten a free ride from the San Francisco Democrats and the local media, is — I predict — in some trouble. There was just no reason for her to oppose Lynn Woolsey’s “exit strategy” resolution, which would have called on the President to set a time certain for getting our troops home, yet she quashed it without even considering the overwhelming support for withdrawal in her own district. Such arrogance is begging to be punished….

By the way, on the subject of the Jewish Community Relations Council email sent out to its members and supporters about the anti-Pelosi rally being an “anti-Israel” action — check out my blog item on the subject — nary a word was said about Israel, either by me or by any of the other speakers. I called the JCRC earlier, before the rally started, and complained: one Dganit Herzig claimed responsibility for the offending email, and, although she stuck by her guns, promised that if she turned out to be wrong about the rally, she would write to me and apologize.